Buying Bitcoin at its Peak vs Money in the Bank
Hey, Utsav Jaiswal here, Hacker Noon’s new(-ish) blockchain editor.
Before diving in, we’d like to remind you that anyone can start a crypto discussion thread in the community or submit a blockchain or crypto story for review (by me or one of the other editors) to be published on Hacker Noon.
As Bitcoin breaches $8000 after what seems like the longest interval, discussions over its utility, price manipulation by whales, and legality are back in vogue.
While most of the narratives and disseminations are conducted on English media publications, there is a huge undercurrent that holds strong belief in Bitcoin.
If you were Argentinian, Zimbabwean, or Venezuelan, Bitcoin performed better than your national currencies. Assuming you bought 1 bitcoin on the day its price peaked — 17th December, 2017, you paid $19,783 (in US Dollar terms).
On the same day,
1 USD = 17.45 ARS
1 USD = 9.97 VEF
Fast forward to 2019 and lets see what the picture shows —
1 BTC = 8,741 USD
While,
1 USD = 44.71 ARS
1 USD = 248,488 VEF
Take into account that the total number of Bitcoin wallets (not users), in existence, until the end of 2018 was 32 million, roughly equivalent to the entire population of Venezuela.
Thus, technically, more people suffered from the inflationary effects of the Venezuelan Bolivar than those who bought Bitcoin, even at its peak.
To put things in perspective, buying bitcoin at its peak was the better option than leaving it in an Argentinian bank to collect interest. While Bitcoin lost about a third of its value to volatility, Argentinian peso lost over half of its purchasing power due to inflation.
A lot of you might be thinking of the Zimbabwean dollar and for perspective, their erstwhile 100 trillion dollar note was worth 40 cents when it got discontinued.
Nigeria, the world’s 7th most populous country in the world, is a curious case in this regard. Thanks to frequent price manipulations, their currency Naira has very few takers abroad. Thus, to buy goods and services from abroad, many Nigerians find it faster, easier, and above all, more profitable to use Bitcoin for such purchases instead of their own national currency. With all this said, as a store of value, most government currencies were less volatile than Bitcoin over the period. But not all. And remember, Bitcoin is a movement that is much broader than store of value.
So, if you’re looking at the near future and thinking about what bitcoin is and what can you do with it, have a look at some of our top stories on bitcoin by some of the most prolific bitcoin writers on earth:
Money, Inequality, & Anonymity
Starting in the 17th century, as money started to replace religion as the totem of power, The Evolution of Money. Episode III:The Phantom Menace of the Rothschild Banking [11 min read] by CryptoMedics Official takes us on a guided tour through the much fabled history of the Rothschilds and their impact on Modern Banking Institutions.
The rise of Bitcoin had a familiar path as one of the pioneers of the Modern Banking System — the Medici family. Check out Shared Beginnings Of Bitcoin & The Medici Family [6 min read] by Tom Chanter to see how both entities built upon existing infrastructure by diversification and decentralization.
If Bitcoin is truly anonymous then why are people mixing their holdings before and after every transaction. Read Bitcoin And Anonymity: What is Bitcoin Mixing? And Why do People Use it? [9 min read] by Clark Wayne to learn more about it and understand why.
Bitcoin Economics and Technology
Want to know how bitcoin fares when subjected to the same trials and tribulations as other assets? Read That’s Our Two Satoshis: Is Bitcoin a Risk-Asset and a Safe-Haven? [10 min read] by Jeff Dorman, CFA to understand how bitcoin perform better than the others on almost all counts.
Myths & Misconceptions About Bitcoin (Finally) Debunked [6 min read] by Crypterium is a complete Mythbusters’ style analysis of the most prevalent and some lesser known misconceptions surrounding bitcoin.
In Bitcoin — The Asset that can’t be Seized [5 min read] by Rayne Steinberg we read how our assets and ownerships in bitcoin can be protected from seizures by despotic governments and dictatorial regimes and thus reduce the economic lure for dictators.
What’s Holding Bitcoin Back?
The three Rs — Regulation, Risk, and Recognition are the primary reasons why Bitcoin adoption is still less than 1%. Check out 6 Reasons Why People Still Aren’t Buying Bitcoin [3 min read] by Oscar W to understand it in detail.
Scalability has been a word that has long served the detractors of Bitcoin in particular and Blockchain in general. Read Christian Decker — An Introduction to The Lightning Network [25 min read], an audio transcript of Peter McCormack’s podcast on making Bitcoin scalable. Check out the other transcripts of Peter’s Bitcoin interviews here.
In It’s 2019. Where the f*ck is Our Global Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System? [15 min read], Tom Howard recalls his issues with global banking, the primary opponents of bitcoin. Read his hilarious rant against the global banking system to truly grasp what bitcoin is up against and why bitcoin adoption is not a matter of why but that of when.
What a Bitcoin-powered Future Might Look Like?
Can Billionaires Use Bitcoin to Shield Their Fortunes During Divorce? [3 min read] by Veronica Pamoukaghlian Viera imagines what would happen in high-profile divorce cases such as the much publicized Jeff Bezos’ divorce, if he’d invested in Bitcoin instead of FIAT reserves.
What Does Future Hold For Bitcoin? [5 min read] by Daniel Alcanja delves into what would it be like to live in a world where bitcoin has general acceptance across the globe and goes beyond remittances under 5 minutes.
The Phantom Bull of Bitcoin Futures [5 min read] by Jesse Lawler can be summed up with a quote from the story itself, “If you buy futures in Apple stock, you’re betting on computers, connectivity, yada yada. If you buy futures in General Motors, you’re betting on cars. With Bitcoin, you’re simply betting on the market’s growing recognition that a fixed-supply digital commodity is a sort of magic. That’s the entire bet.”
Pirate Beachbum’s Bitcoin Bear Market Diaries
Hacker Noon’s own Pirate Beachbum interviews bitcoin maximalists and unbelievers every week. Check out the excerpts here [3 min read]. Some of his most widely read interviews are:
Bitcoin Bear Market Diaries Volume 23 with Ben Perrin [8 min read]
Bitcoin Bear Market Diary Volume 20 with Jeremy [7 min read]
Bitcoin Bear Market Diaries Volume 14 with Vortex [6 min read]
We, at Hackernoon, are excited help provide a medium of discussion for those involved in the development of Blockchain-based solutions. You can become a part of the discussion by checking out our contributors’ stories on blockchain technologies, and remember anyone can start a crypto discussion thread in the community or submit a blockchain or crypto story for review (by me or one of the other editors) to be published on Hacker Noon.
